In a variety of settings requiring transport and delivery of items, one challenge is to deliver perishable items or merchandise (such as medicine or grocery produce) that must be maintained within a certain temperature range. If the perishable items are not maintained within this temperature range, they may spoil, lose effectiveness, or otherwise be unsuitable for use by customers. In this context, a certain amount of coolant and insulation may be needed in a delivery container in order to maintain the desired temperature of these perishable items or merchandise.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a delivery container that includes the proper amount of coolant and/or insulation. More specifically, under one approach, it would be desirable to provide a delivery container where the insulation characteristics could be modified during transport in order to maintain the desired temperature range within the container. Under another approach, it would be desirable to provide a delivery container where various combinations of coolant and insulation could be determined prior to transport in order to provide flexibility in making deliveries.
Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. Certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. The terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary technical meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions by persons skilled in the technical field as set forth above except where different specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.